Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters (Fool Proof!)

FOOL PROOF Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters are not only crazy delicious but are SO easy for the ideal make ahead, stress free holiday gifts or dessert!

I’ve included special tips and tricks and detailed instructions on how to make these Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters so your peanut clusters will be a decadently delicious success every time!

Happy December! While it’s still paddleboard weather here in Carlsbad during the day – it’s sock weather at night. That’s how I know it’s December 🙂 I also know it’s December by all the goodies in my Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram feed – talk about treats galore! But even with all the fancy sweets and treats in my feed and on my “to make list,” I knew these simply satisfying Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters were at the top of my “to make” list this year.

As a little girl, Chocolate Peanut Clusters were my “special treat” I always picked out and have long been on my bucket list of “to make” recipes. And this recipe did not disappoint! They are easy, delicious and make a ton. I especially wanted to make these Chocolate Peanut Clusters in time for the holidays because I LOVE an easy gift and holiday dessert.

For as long as I can remember, I have always made goodie plates for neighbors and friends at Christmas time. And while it is a fun tradition, rolling and baking that many cookies is a LOT. of. work. I finally got smart and decided I would only make goodies that can be poured into a pan – Snickerdoodle Cooke Bars,Red Velvet Swirl Brownies, Butterscotch Coconut Blondies, Chocolate Toffee, Poke Turtle Brownies. These have become my go-to holiday desserts because they are dump, bake and slice. Last year I made 7 batches of toffee and it was painless and this year it’s all about these Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters!

There are a lot of Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Cluster recipes out there, but this recipe is fool proof! So let’s get started!

How to Make Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters

Use enough white almond bark. Next, we add our white almond bark. Almond bark is located with the rest of the chocolate at your grocery store. It contains sugar, milk powder, vanilla and usually palm oil instead of cocoa butter. The palm oil is hydrogenated to make it more solid at room temperature. I’ve read many recipe reviews of other Chocolate Peanut Cluster recipes complaining that their chocolate did not solidify. This is caused by the ratio of almond bark to chocolate being too low. You need enough almond bark to ensure ensure your Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters harden.

Almond bark is developed specifically to melt beautifully and not easily seize or burn. Other chocolates can be temperamental to work with and burn, and turn hard and grainy quite easily. When we combine almond bark with our other chocolate, we have a winning combination.

Use quality chocolate. We add 12 oz. quality semi sweet chocolate chips or dark/bittersweet chocolate chips to our almond bark. Your chocolate chips will melt better and taste better if you use quality chocolate; I prefer Ghirardelli . Semi-sweet chocolate is technically dark chocolate but if you prefer darker chocolate, use bittersweet chocolate chips – it is totally up to you!

Cover the top of the slow cooker with a kitchen towel or paper towels before adding the lid. This step is crucial as it will catch condensation that can drip onto the chocolate when you lift the lid to stir which will cause the chocolate to seize.

Cook on LOW and stir often. Melt chocolate on LOW for 1 ½-2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes, until completely melted. Every single crockpot is different, so make sure you are paying attention to your chocolate.

Temper the chocolate. The chocolate we are adding to our slow cooker is already tempered, meaning it has undergone a process which increases shine and durability. When we melt it, however, it loses its temper because the crystal structure breaks down above 90°F. Untempered chocolate when cooled can develop white streaks and a crumbly texture and can stay soft at room temperature.

To bring our chocolate back into temper is super simple, all we have to do is add tempered chocolate to our untempered chocolate! We do this by adding our German chocolate bar after out chocolate is already melted and stir and stir until it is completely melted. Now, our tempered chocolate will harden quickly, lose some of it shine as it dries but maintain an even color and not become streaky, will snap cleanly and not become crumbly.

Add the peanuts after the chocolate is melted. Many recipes add the peanuts with the melting chocolate but this is completely unnecessary and can cause the peanuts to scorch, especially if they are dry roasted. We add our peanuts once the chocolate is completely melted and then stir until evenly coated.

Use parchment paper or mini cupcake liners for easy dropping and cleanup. All that’s left is to line your counter with a very long row of parchment paper OR if gift giving, line with mini cupcake liners. Drop peanuts by the tablespoon (or whatever size you prefer) onto parchment/liners.

Sprinkle with sea salt. I like to sprinkle my Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters with sea salt to balance the sweetness but that is optional. If you are sprinkling with sea salt, be sure to not wait until the very end, or the first few peanut clusters will already have hardened and the salt won’t stick.

Store in a cool place. The Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters store amazingly well and is one of the reasons they are a favorite for gift giving! You can make them and then give them when you get to it 🙂 Store the peanut clusters in a cool place, in an airtight container, with rows separated by parchment paper for several days….if they last that long…

FOOL PROOF Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters are not only crazy delicious but are SO easy for the ideal make ahead, stress free holiday gifts or dessert! I've included special tips and tricks and detailed instructions on how to make these Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Clusters so your peanut clusters will be a decadently delicious success every time!

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Prep Time

25minutes

Cook Time

2hours

Servings

clusters

Ingredients

nonstick cooking spray

2lbs.white almond bark

12oz. QUALITY semi-sweet chocolate chipslike Ghirardelli

ADD LATER

4oz.German baking chocolate barchopped (or milk chocolate)

16oz.salted dry roasted peanuts

16oz.cocktail peanuts

Garnish

coarse sea salt

Prep Time

25minutes

Cook Time

2hours

Servings

clusters

Ingredients

nonstick cooking spray

2lbs.white almond bark

12oz. QUALITY semi-sweet chocolate chipslike Ghirardelli

ADD LATER

4oz.German baking chocolate barchopped (or milk chocolate)

16oz.salted dry roasted peanuts

16oz.cocktail peanuts

Garnish

coarse sea salt

Votes: 0 Rating: 0

Rate this recipe!

Instructions

Lightly spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

Add almond bark followed by semi-sweet chocolate chips to slow cooker. Cover the top of the slow cooker with a kitchen towel or paper towels before adding the lid. This will catch condensation that can drip onto the chocolate when you lift the lid to stir which can cause the chocolate to seize.

Melt chocolate on LOW for 1 1/2-2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes, until completely melted. Add German chocolate and stir until completely melted (this will temper the chocolate). Add all of the peanuts and stir until evenly coated.

Line your counter with a long row of parchment paper OR if gift giving, line with mini cupcake liners. Drop peanuts by the tablespoon onto parchment/liners. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired but DON'T wait until all the chocolate clusters are dropped before sprinkling with sea salt or the first few will have already hardened. Allow to set completely, approximately 45-60 minutes.

Store the chocolate peanut clusters in a cool place in an airtight container, with rows separated by parchment paper.

Recipe Notes

*Many white almond bark packages come in 20 oz. It is fine to use 40 oz. instead of 32 oz.

*If scorching or seizing occurs, mix in 2 tablespoons shortening to chocolate. *The semi-sweet chocolate and German Chocolate can be replace with whatever chocolate you prefer but DO NOT replace the almond bark.

Hi Katie, that is my favorite combination as I prefer those two types of peanuts together because they each taste different and offer a different flavor profile but you are welcome to do all of one kind if you prefer 🙂

Well Jen, These seem easy and no doubt everyone will love them. I went to recipe from my email notification and decided “Yes” I’ll make these today………in the good ‘ol crockpot. Then, SWEET AND SPICY CRANBERRY MEATBALLS (SLOW COOKER) caught my eye and I decided “Yes” I’ll make this today, then I saw “(15 Min) Beefy Buffalo Mac & Cheese with Creamed Corn & Poblano Peppers.” I guess my time in the kitchen is now planned for today (as long as I stop reading and looking at those photos!)

So many choices which no doubt are all wonderful!!! Thank you for sharing your passion and I hope you are feeling great today!

LOL! That sounds like a positively delicious day with all recipes I absolutely love! I love your passion for cooking as well – it is a happy way to live 🙂 I am feeling great today and hope you have a wonderfully delicious, happy day! xo

This sounds great Jen! I’ve pinned similar recipes for peanut clusters, intending to make them this holiday season. None of the other recipes mention a towel to absorb the condensation which would make the chocolate seize ( I knew this already but would not have thought of it until it was too late). None of the others have 3 types of chocolate and 2 types of peanuts! You must put so much time and effort into your recipes & I appreciate it!

Thank you for your appreciate comment Carolyn! I really try and make my recipes the best they can be so my readers have a great experience! Thank you for noticing and I hope you love these Peanut Clusters!!! Merry Christmas!

Hi Ellie, so nice to “meet” you, thanks for saying hi! Your stepdad sounds wonderful and like all CF individuals I’ve met, I have no doubt he was incredibly strong and courageous! Thank you for the well wishes! I wish you all the best as well and a very Merry Christmas!

HI Kitty, I prefer to use the white chocolate and then let the flavor of the other chocolate shine through but you can certainly use chocolate almond bark but I would suggest half white almond bark and half chocolate. Enjoy!

Hi Elizabeth, sorry for the confusion! I corrected the post but must not have cleared the cache. The 32 oz. is correct. That being said I have also used 48 oz and it still turned out great. But go with the 32 🙂 Enjoy!

Jen Thank you so much for taking the time to post the beautifully written instructions and pictures of the crock pot peanut clusters. I’ve already made 2 batches in 5 days and everyone I’ve given sweet treats to has raved and insisted that they were their favorite. These will definitely be on my “must make for the holidays” list. Thanks again & Happy Holidays!

You are so welcome Debbie, thank you so much for taking the time to comment and make my day! I am so happy they have been such a success and a hit with all your friends – yay! Happy Holidays to you and yours as well!

Hi! I am new to your blog and just wanted to say Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe! My husband loves peanut clusters but they are hard to find nowadays for some reason, so when I asked him what dessert he wanted for CHRISTmas, he said Chocolate Peanut Clusters! When I saw your blog I was impressed with how thorough your recipe/technique is compared to others I’ve seen…and I must say that I made these today and they are absolutely delicious! I used 1 lb. each of chocolate & white candy coating, 12 oz. of mini semi-sweet chips, and about 3 oz of peanut butter chips/1 oz milk chocolate chips to temper (because that was what I had on hand). Well, I’ve “talked” enough, so I’ll just say Merry CHRISTmas & Happy New Year!!!

Welcome to my blog Kenya! I am thrilled you found this recipe and that you and your husband love them! Thank you for taking time to leave such a lovely comment! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours as well!

I tried the recipe tonight and it was a big hit with my kids! Thanks to your hint about using a towel, everything worked great. Every crock pot I have bought in the past fifteen years runs much hotter than crock pots used to– so I would recommend using the KEEP WARM setting! It all melted in about an hour and I felt safe to keep the crockpot on while I was scooping the peanut clusters out, no risk of scorching. As the old British saying goes, “chocolate melts in a child’s pocket” — no need to ever heat it above body temperature! Thanks for the recipe!

Hi Jen! I am going to be making these clusters for a wedding shower but I need to make them in advance. I see you say to store them in a cool place but is that just in a cool kitchen or will they do ok in the refrigerator? I am having to leave them for a shower that I cant attend so I would like to have them ready about 3 days before the shower. Thank you in advance!

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